First year students reflect on MPHS shooting

Published: November 14, 2014

First year students taking UW Bothell’s Arts in Healthcare class completed a paper quilt to reflect on the tragic shooting that occurred at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in October. “We chose to make it for UW Bothell, to show Bothell’s unity,” says associate professor Andrea Kovalesky. “We know we have students here that went to MP… so this was a way to support the people here.” Each student completed a scrapbook block, and in the end, the blocks were knitted together into a quilt.

According to Kovalesky, “research shows that doing art helps process emotions… we know that where our emotions and where are thoughts are kept are in different parts of our brain. Doing art helps us to release our emotions in a non-verbal way.” Kovalesky added that it’s a healthy thing to do.

Many of her students recently graduated from high schools located near Marysville-Pilchuck. Like other UW Bothell students, they were impacted by the shooting, but that was not the only violence they’ve witnessed. “Most students have been in schools where violence has occurred, whether it was somebody beating up on somebody else, or there’s something going on in the neighborhood,” says Kovalesky. “In or day and age, it’s everywhere. So I think they could relate in some way, even though they didn’t go to the particular school.”

Kovalesky’s students wanted to not only acknowledge the tragedy, but to show support to their peers who had close connections to the school.

Did You Know?

Nine out of 10 of UW Bothell's 17,000 alumni live and work in the state of Washington.